Students may need to study up before prom

Want to go to the homecoming dance or prom or attend a basketball or football game as a spectator? Better study up.

DAVE HANEY

Want to go to the homecoming dance or prom or attend a basketball or football game as a spectator? Better study up.

District 150 high school students who are failing any of their "core class subjects" next year may find themselves unable to attend after-school activities.

District 150 Associate Superintendent Herschel Hannah addressed the School Board on Tuesday night, saying students need to take more responsibility with their academic performance if the district is to see gains. It's the administration's job, he added, to make demands for greater responsibility.

"Until we emphasize that academic achievement is what we want our kids to be about . . . only then will they get to perform at their highest level," Hannah said. "When students know that their core business is learning and not dribbling the basketball, it's not throwing the football, it's not hitting the ball, it's not dancing, it's not 'dropping it like it's hot,' their core business is learning, and until we stand on that and demand that, we won't get it."

Already, like most schools, District 150 requires student athletes to pass their "core classes," such as language arts, math, science or social studies. Hannah and company's proposal takes it a step further by passing that responsibility to all students, as well as creating a more profound consequence.

The idea is not new, Hannah said, pointing to one school where a similar policy was adopted, and while there was some initial "push back" by students, those who were ineligible to attend after-school activities because of a failing grade went from 169 students to 32.

"Once they got acclimated that number dropped," Hannah said.

Student opinion on the idea was mixed.

"I think it's ridiculous," said Breon Woods, 17, a senior at Peoria High School, "simply for the fact the school would lose money without kids at the games - they're the main spectators - you won't have as much school spirit. And prom is a right of passage."

Jamal Moton, 16, a junior at Peoria High, agreed, saying after-school activities are an incentive to go to school. "Kids will just stop trying," he said.

Trevor Mileur, 16, a sophomore at Woodruff High School, saw it differently.

"I think students should be able to attend games to support the team but not dances or to participate in fun activities if they're not doing what they need to be doing in the classroom," Mileur said.

Michelle Lacy, 15, a sophomore at Woodruff, also agreed. "I think it's a good idea because if kids can't do their school work, why should they be awarded to (attend) those activities?" she said.

Hannah received unanimous approval from the School Board on Tuesday to begin creating a committee to specifically look at what such a policy might cover and how it might be implemented.

Board member Linda Butler said she liked the idea and felt it also might be worth implementing at the middle school level.

Hannah said he hopes to have the new policy in place next fall.

Said Superintendent Ken Hinton: "We as a community and we as a district really need to think about and talk about putting this puzzle together in regards to the performance of our students, because our students, as we know, many of them can do better than what they are currently producing."